


Dive

by bromanceorromance



Series: divide [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 12:08:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11357193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bromanceorromance/pseuds/bromanceorromance
Summary: Don't call me 'baby', unless you mean it.





	Dive

"I can't do this, Li. I _can't_." 

Liam's face falls. "Z – " 

" _No_ , Liam, it's too much. You don't seem to realize how hard this is." 

"Baby - " 

" _No_ , don't call me 'baby'. You don't want me. Not like that. I _know_ this is just some fling for you," Zayn growls. His hand is on the doorknob, but Liam's hand is stopping him from leaving. "This may not be real for you, but it's too late for me. I'm already – I'm in love with you. And I can't spend every day with the man that doesn't love me back." He pushes Liam away and is out the door and down the hall in an instant. 

" _Zayn_ ," Liam yells.  

He ignores him. 

Thirty minutes later, he's at the airport, buying a ticket home. He can't remember how he got here, but he's left everything back at the hotel. He's got his phone, wallet, and passport. He didn't bother to pick anything else up, apparently. His phone buzzes in his hand and he looks down long enough to turn it off. 

There's a flight to London leaving in an hour. He buys a sketchbook at one of the gift shops in the airport. He doodles while he waits in the VIP lounge. 

He doesn't realize he's been drawing Liam's face and hands and body over and over again until he gets off the plane in London. Zayn chokes down the tears as he drops it in a trashcan outside the airport. 

 

\--- 

 

It's two months before he sees Liam again. He quit One Direction, paying whatever it took for the lawyers to get him out of his contract. 

Liam shows up at his door, uninvited. He knocks for the first time in almost four years.  

"What are you doing here?" Zayn asks, monotone. 

He looks tired, Zayn thinks. There's dark circles under his eyes and his whole being seems to be fighting gravity's pull. 

"Baby - " 

Zayn steps back, shaking his head. "Li – I can't - " A sob is clawing it's way up his throat and he's desperately trying to choke it down. 

"Baby, I love you," Liam whispers. His eyes are desperate, shining with unshed tears. "I spent two months being frustrated and angry and _sad_ and lonely, but it all comes down to I love you and I can't live without you." 

Zayn's clinging to the door like a life-line. "I – I left the band. I can't - " 

"I don't fucking care if you're in the band or not. I want _you,_ Zayn. Just you. I need you. I don't want to live without you. I need your stupid commentary during movies and your little sketches on every surface available and the way you – the way you used to look at me. I'm in love with you, Z. I don't know why the fuck it took this for me to figure it out, but I fucking love you and I hope I'm not too late. Baby, _please_ , give me another chance." 

Zayn hesitates, briefly, before pulling Liam into a hug. "You mean it?" He whispers, ashamed of the way his voice shakes. "Li, I can't – I _can't_ handle you lying to me right now - " 

"No – I'm not – I love you, baby. I love you so fucking much. I'm so fucking in love with you, Zayn Malik." 


End file.
